Japanese Bathrooms

The hype is real. Never did I think I’d write a whole post about bathrooms, but here goes, and for that, I apologize.

Imagine a toilet lid raising as you enter the bathroom, ready to “seat” you. Imagine then sitting on a heated toilet seat. Need a little privacy, or perhaps some encouragement? How about a little sound playing that sounds like water running in a brook. Could your tushie use a little cleaning? What about with a shot of heated water? Perhaps now, a little drying? Does the toilet now need a little deodorizing? What about if you made a bit of a mess in the toilet and you thought it needed a little bit of cleaning? What if you could do all of that with just touch of a button? While we did not find all of these features on all of our toilets, we found all of them on toilet seats in Japan! I sat on a lot of seats throughout Japan, and I think only one, in a very rural area was as plain and boring as all of our toilets back in the US. 

Not only is the whole experience more enjoyable than anything at home, but there are lots of thoughtful touches, particularly in public bathrooms. Often, there is a shelf in the stall for you to put your bag on. Often, there is a sort of high chair in the bathroom for a young child to sit in while the mom takes care of her business. Sometimes, in public bathrooms, there is even one small urinal for those boys traveling with their mom. We even saw public bathrooms with whole sections of shelves and light up mirrors away from the sinks to give ladies the time and place to look their best. 

In houses and hotels the toilet is totally separate from the shower and the sink. This is so you aren’t brushing your teeth where you use the bathroom. (Anybody else now rethinking a lot about their own arrangement at home?😬)

Since it is common to take shoes off before entering homes, and even some public spaces, you will often find toilet shoes in the toilet area. For example, when I went to Eleanor’s swimming lessons, in a huge sort of YMCA kind of building, when we entered, we had to take off our shoes. But when I went into the bathroom, there were slippers there for me to borrow so I didn’t have to walk into the toilet area without them. In a couple of our hotel rooms where we were supposed to take our shoes off when we entered, the tiny room with only the toilet in it provided shoes. They seemed unnecessary in these events, but still a nice touch. 

It is also very uncommon for public bathrooms to have paper towels or trying stations. This is why most people carry around their own personal hand towels. They also sell a lot of really cute ones in the stores, so why not take advantage of that? While there is so much utter perfection in the bathroom, I must admit, there is definitely some room for growth on the toilet paper…

Who knew I’d ever enjoy trips to the bathroom as much as I have in Japan! Now to pick out the perfect attachments and let Santa know…